Gears only shift when car is off Options

[m2736185]

I have a 95 Celica GT just under 200k. It had problems downshifting before, but I had replaced the gear oil and everything was smooth again. Today I stopped at a light and the car wouldnt shift into first...or second or anything. I turned the car off switched it into first then I was able to get it into second, but it wouldnt go any further or back to first. I had to drive home in second with my hazzard lights on. Luckily I was a mile away from home. The clutch seems like it is still strong. Could this be the pressure plate or something similar?

[Stambo]

possibly the clutch itself is dragging on the flywheel causing you not to put it into gear since it still thinks the clutch is engaged. When you put the clutch to the floor does the pedal just stay at the floor when you release it?

Give the clutch a good bleeding to see if you got any air in the system.

[m2736185]

Nope, the clutch comes right back when I release it. Normal stiffness

[Bitter]

clutch isn't disengaging for some reason, got fluid?

[96stgreendemon]

I had this problem too. There is an adjustment on the pushrods on the pedal, need to be adjusted out

[Neon90424]

does your clutch pedal vibrate when you push it down? my pressure plate blew up and I could not get it into gear without turning it off

[m2736185]

Yes there is fluid in there. I tried to move it it went into reverse but didn't want to go into any other gear. I turned off the car and was able to get it into first then the car made a weird noise and it was stuck in first. The car was moving foward and I pressed the clutch to stop it bu the clutch would not disengage.

[RabidTRD]

A bad throwout bearing will do that. Did it to my friends Volvo before. Couldn't shift into or out of any gears, replaced the throwout bearing and everything was good again. Co-workers throwout bearing blew up and it did that as well lol.

*shrug*

[JasonTX]

had a very similar problem. a spring on my clutch disk broke and became wedged between the clutch and the pressure plate leaving it always engaged. if you havent replaced your clutch yet this may be the culprit

[m2736185]

Either way....it looks like everyone is saying its a clutch problem. Well the car is about 13 miles away from my house. Lets hope I can atleast get it into 3rd and make it over there. How difficult is it to change the clutch? It looks really right down there

[JasonTX]

pretty good walkthroughs on the site. very straightforward

it took me all day but i did have an extra pair of hands and a tranny jack to help things along. also machine shop down the street returned my flywheel in about an hour

good luck man, let us know what the actual cause was when you crack the tranny apart

-jec

[RabidTRD]

Either way, it's not going to hurt to put a new clutch in with how many miles you have lol.

[m2736185]

Yea, I just wish it could have waited another thousand miles or so.

Jason: Did you have to drop the tranny all the way or just enough to slip the clutch off? Also did you have to remove the struts to get to everything?

[JasonTX]

Yea, I just wish it could have waited another thousand miles or so.

Jason: Did you have to drop the tranny all the way or just enough to slip the clutch off? Also did you have to remove the struts to get to everything?

your gonna take it off all the way so you can replace and grease the throw out bearing. you will have to remove the axle from the hub and in order to do that you;ll have to disconnect the strut from the bottom(2 bolts and the clip that that hold the brake line in place) i imagine you can just work arounf the strut but i went ahead and removed it. just undid the 3 bolts on top (under the hood on the strut housing) and got it out of the way.

this is a good oppertunity (although it sucks your clutch will have to be replaced) to replace the rear main seal and axle seals if their leaking.

also while my tranny was out i cleaned all the gunk off of it so i could see in the future if there were any leaks

good luck

peace

-jec

[xrav22]

Yea, I just wish it could have waited another thousand miles or so.

Jason: Did you have to drop the tranny all the way or just enough to slip the clutch off? Also did you have to remove the struts to get to everything?

One of my springs broke of the plate and was jammed in there . I managed to wiggle and get it working again but 3 months later the clutch broke and pieces were rattling around. New clutch and working perfect noe

[m2736185]

Looks like I got one of those 1 day projects that will proly turn into a week ahead of me. So before I start taking things apart.....there is now way this could be the slave cylinder right? I had someone press on the clutch and it looks like the forks are being pulled out all the way each time.

[Bitter]

if the slave is pushing the fork then the clutch hydraulic system is working. I would just replace the master and slave anyways if they're old.

[xrav22]

if the slave is pushing the fork then the clutch hydraulic system is working. I would just replace the master and slave anyways if they're old.

The shop changed my slave with the clutch and it is much easier to press now.

[4v6]

Sounds like clutch drag.

I had the same issue on the gt4 with a cracked friction plate, kept dragging and wouldnt shift right.
Busted from too many hard launches i think.

[m2736185]

Well, I got the undercover off so I could get a good idea of what I had to do....everything looks doable, but there are 2 things I know is gonna be a pain in the ass. #1 the rear engine mount I dont see how the hell I can even get a wrench in there. #2 The bearing mount on the passenger side that I need to take remove inorder to take out the passenger side axel..how the hell do I get a wrench in there? Also, I noticed a lot of people said I had to remove the down pipe is this so I can lower the engine because it looks like I have enough clearnace to to remove the transmission from where it is